KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — Domestic violence is a growing concern in Knox County that continues to impact families, and local leaders say addressing it will take more than just the criminal justice system.
Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond brought together leaders to start building a long-term plan to reduce domestic violence and better support those impacted. 6 News learned more about what came out of those conversations, and what leaders hope happens next.
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“The comptroller did a study and found out that Knox County, three years in a row, was number one in the state in the number of domestic violence petitions. Already this year, we’ve had 1,600 calls for domestic violence just from January through May and that’s in Knox County. A lot of those are inside the city limits,” explained HammondNow county leaders are looking ahead, working to create a four-year plan aimed at reducing domestic violence and strengthening support for survivors.“For us to all work together and to be able to make this a better process and make it be something that gives a better result and something that really does attack and help and assist, making domestic violence be something that we see less and less of,” said Willie Lane the Knox County Assistant District Attorney.From law enforcement to advocates and community organizations, leaders came together with a shared goal, finding ways to prevent domestic violence and better support those impacted.“Domestic violence is everywhere. It’s insidious, but it’s not always seen. I think a lot of the people that work in this, that we have all gone through it ourselves, and that’s what brings a lot of the passion. That’s what brings us to working in something that can be so difficult is because we don’t want other people to suffer in the same ways that we did. Right. So, I see that in this room is victims who have become empowered to be healers and work on this issue,” explained Seema Singh the Executive Director of Healing the Home
Organizers say they hope these conversations lead to real change.“Domestic violence is not an issue that people enjoy talking about,” added Hammond. “But yet we need to talk about it. And that’s one of the things that I hope will come out of this, is that we need to let the community know we’ve got a problem, but we’re wanting to work to help come up with solutions to help solve the problem.”
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Hammond says there’s no quick fix, but he believes this forum is the first concrete step toward finding long-term solutions. Leaders tell six news this is just the beginning. They plan to continue these conversations as they work to develop a strategy to address domestic violence…